But the current content will certainly remain available for those who want to read. I pray it will bless you, my readers.
Finding the good, the positive, even my breath…each are hard for me right now amidst the struggles and all set before me. I am weary and tired of so much…
I lost a cousin by a senseless murder.
I have lost friends amidst politics, Covid-19 vaccinations and masks.
I continue to await the completion of the building I will be moving into! Maybe early Spring, late Winter. I pray so!
I am a follower of Jesus, but am baffled by the church, by the paths ‘Christianity’ is weaving. I am certainly not a Christian Nationalist, a Covid/mask/vaccine denier, a migrant detester, an election denier, a racist…like too many Christians I know.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
ALL PEOPLE will know when we love one another.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12
His love is perfected in us when we love one another.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:18-21
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. We are to love one another!
Naomi Tutu Nontombi, an Episcopal priest, is able to look into the words and wisdom of Amos to see a way of being, of living out Christianity
“…it is about how they are to live as a people in the world. They are meant to model a new way of being in community and to show that worshipping God is about every aspect of their lives.Worship of God is . . . all about how we treat our neighbor, how we deal with the less fortunate, what we do to or for the widow and orphan, and how we treat the stranger in our midst. Amos tries . . . to make it clear to God’s people that the God who created and loves them, expects that their belief in God will challenge them to live lives that mirror God’s love. . . .”
This includes:
LGBTQIA/gay/queer community – Rather than condemnation, they are to be loved too.
Immigrant communities – Each immigrant is seeking a better way to live. Our families were immigrants once too, seeking a better life, no matter how many generations we must go back to find those family members.
African-American community – Created in God’s image are many skin tones. Most were brought here to the USA as slaves. This fact does not make them any less of a beautiful human being than any one else.
Jewish-American community – Those practicing the Jewish religion have been created in God’s image as well. They are called the Children of God, by God Himself.
Asian community – God created a diverse array of human beings. The Asian community is part of the beautiful creation of God.
Women – Women, created by God, have a brain and an ability to make decisions. May we be allowed!
Diversity is who and what God created. Just look all around you at the glories of the natural world. It is filled with diversity. He made men and women diverse, as well, and beautiful! All people!
Love one another!
The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus, 1883
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Welcome all. Love all!
We can do this. God gave us His Word to orchestrate the beautiful dance He desired of us.
God, Lord of all creation, lover of life, please help me to love in my small way what You love infinitely and every where. I thank You that I can offer a prayer and that it will be enough, because every thing and every one is connected; nothing stands alone in Your world, God. To pray for one part is to pray for the whole. And I do. Help me each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because I know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. I offer my prayer together with Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Since August, I have written only twice here, although I had words inside of me for many more posts. What I had to say did not seem to fit into this space very well, if at all.
But this space is my podium, my journal, my lessons, my little place I have called my writing-home since 2009. Why can’t I write words that speak of my personal journey in this personal, although also public, space?
Of course, I can!
I live in a nation where speech is still free! I pray it stays that way too!
Here at Being Woven, you will start seeing more of the under-belly of the weaving which is me being woven. I have spent much of these thirteen years in this space sharing the more finished side of the weaving rather than the side where those yarn-ends are sticking out, not yet tucked in properly, although I did write from that well now and then too. With a voice that may be somewhat unfamiliar to my readers (and to me), those raw points of this weaving may protrude. It is still me, my friends.
First Amendment of the United States of America’s Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
I hope and pray that I will honor God in all I say and do. Lord, please guide my steps, my words, my voice(s).
My voice has been silent for two and a half months now.
I have had so much to say yet no words would come in any semblance of order.
I felt like my voice was being snuffed out!
It is NOT, although I am still struggling.
BUT…I will speak up.
I will utter what is important for me to say. It is vital.
The United States of America is the country I have lived in and loved for 75 years.
The divisions…the lying…the violence…the fears…the hatred…all overarch this moment we, as a country, are standing in. It is a precipice from which we may not come back. We are on the brink of losing the democratic form of government we have known for the past 226 years. Yes, there have been other moments in our history when this same democracy was on the brink of possible collapse, but it DID NOT.
IT DID NOT THEN.
I PRAY IT WILL NOT NOW!
We cannot take this moment for granted, saying, “Oh, it’ll be alright. Just relax.”
WE CANNOT RELAX! WE MUST NOT RELAX!
THREATS and FEARS cause us to be STILL and SILENT.
WE MUST NOT BE STILL.
WE MUST NOT BE SILENT.
ANYMORE!!!!
READ THE PREAMBLE to the Constitution of the United States:
“We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ”
This is NOT the description of the United States of America as I see it today. Where is the justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, blessings of liberty? Oh, that more election candidates would run on these things rather than on slander, libel, lying, violence. We are certainly not living in a ‘perfect Union’ for ‘perfection’ just is not humanly possible, but I wish for something nearer to that ideal than what I currently see!
My voice has been silent for these months, but I do not want to remain so.
I am not the only one who is losing her/his voice…
WOMEN are losing her voices.
DARK SKINNED people are losing their voices. (Most have never really been allowed to speak wholeheartedly here in America, I am sorry to say.)
IMMIGRANTS are losing their voices too (but most have never had loud voices either).
ASIAN-AMERICANS are losing their voices.
JEWS are losing their voices…AGAIN.
LGBQT people are also losing their voices (people who have only recently had a voice yet now are finding it threatened).
VOTERS are being intimidated from expressing their voices on ballots.
ELECTION WORKERS are being intimidated and many have left their VITAL ROLES in keeping ELECTIONS SAFE.
TRUMP FOLLOWERS actually lost their voices years ago when they chose to believe his lies and no longer know what the truth is. They think they have a voice but what they have is the former President’s and his buddies’ voices and the FOX news’ voice, all of which have been telling lies for years now. TRUTH has lost its voice in some realms of our country/world.
Our voices are vital to keeping hold of a democratically-ruled country.
The 2022 Midterm Elections are next week.
Our democracy is on the ballot.
Truth is on the ballot.
Every race on your individual ballot is vital to this election. Consider each candidate seriously because who we choose down the entire ballot can make, break, upend our democratic type of government.
Let us hold onto it!
If we vote for those who continually deny the outcome of the 2020 election, then the democracy we have known for 226 years will disappear soon, I truly believe, because that is what the deniers of election outcomes are saying!
I DO NOT want to live in a country run by an AUTOCRAT, DICTATOR, AUTHORITARIAN.
I WANT DEMOCRACY, A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC! WHAT DO YOU WANT?
PLEASE…VOTE WISELY!AND VOTE!Your country depends on you!
Bugs Bunny likes to taunt Elmer Fudd in the cartoons, similarly, the Roadrunner to Wylie Coyote. I have struggled my life to not be a target for another’s taunts. Today’s language might state ‘a taunt’ as ‘bullying.’ God states that the Israelites will be a taunt. It is not that they are doing the taunting but that they are doing things that cause others to notice them and what they have done to betray their God, the One True God. The children of God have disobeyed God. After many, many reminders, God uses them as a taunt, as a visual lesson from God to others watching. In the meantime, others may, indeed, taunt those who have gone astray.
How often throughout my 74 years have I disappointed and displeased God in the actions I have taken, the words I have spewed out, the thoughts I have had? Often, in the Bible, we see, again and again, the Israelites idolizing gods of others. They disobey God by going against His rules and His words.
And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 2 Kings 17:9-14
As I continue to read the Bible with “Sweeter Than Honey Devotional A 365-Day Devotional Journey” by Patsy Burnette this year, we are in the midst of the prophets, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel. The words, the messages God gives to these men to, then, give to the children of God are hard words to hear let alone to have to speak for God. They hold lesson-upon-lesson for the Children of God as well as for readers such as myself. Oh, that I will relearn once again!
Throughout the prophecies, God calls His children names that I find hard to stomach. Below these Scriptures, you will see these words and their definitions. None of them are a good, positive description for anyone. We should want to be the opposites.
I will make thema horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to bea reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. Jeremiah 24:9. ESV
“You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken—when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.” Ezekiel 5:15-17
“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.” Jeremiah 42:18-22
“Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?” Jeremiah 44:8-9
The boldface words in the Scriptures above are defined below:
זְוָעָה.zᵊvāʿâ. a horror, an object of terror, a trembling, an object of trembling
אָלָה.‘ālâ. an imprecation:—curse, cursing, execration, oath, swearing.
שַׁמָּה.šammâ. ruin; by implication, consternation:—astonishment, desolate(-ion), waste
Just reading these definitions makes me realize that when I walk against the very grain of God, I must sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. (Since chalkboards are now white boards, the sound will not be the same for those of you who are not familiar with that high-pitched screech that fingernails make on those black boards, but know that it is an extremely harsh, high-pitched screech. Makes your spine chill.) I look and sound like a taunt toward all that God has taught me. I am a reproach, a disgrace to the God Whom I love and desire to be obedient. Plus, I no longer look like Jesus Whom I am supposed to represent as I grow more and more into His image. I should be ashamed. When others look at me, who do they see? A belligerent, angry, lying, Jesus? NO, it is Linda in that reprehensible image, but if I represent Jesus as a Christ-following human being, then I ought to look like Him and not anyone or anything else!
I have the desire to walk peaceably with God, but I stray now and again. The Israelites strayed and yet God loved them dearly. He loves them in the midst of their disobedience just as He does us. That does not mean that God ignores them and lets them get away with all sorts of misdeeds. He wants obedience to Him from all of us who call themselves His. God is merciful and He is just. He punishes just as a father punishes his child when the child has disobeyed.
“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except some fugitives.” Jeremiah 44:11-14
Dearest Father, I pray for each of us who love You so and want to walk in the obedience which You have called us. May we hear Your promptings, Your warnings when we wander, when we stray away from where You desire us to be. May I heed Your warnings, Lord. May I seek Your guidance in all things. Forgive me, Father, when I ignore You, when I am remiss in being mindful towards You. I know You never stop loving me, yet You want me where You want me. Please open my ears to hear. Open my eyes to see. May the eyes and ears of my heart be ready to see and hear You and be ready to follow those plans that You have always had for me… since before I was created. Guide me onto Your path and away from mine, Lord. I pray in the powerful Name of Jesus. Amen.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6
חֹמֶר
ḥōmer
clay: as material of vessels
Jeremiah 18:4:
CSB: But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.
NET: Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit.
NLT: But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
God gave Jeremiah a visual this time rather than just words, as if God’s Word is not enough! I am a visual learner more often than not. I grasp the whole idea when I can see something being done, see something in actuality, see or touch rather than just hear. Looks like Jeremiah needed that for this picture, this word picture. He was preparing a sermon from this. How better to be able to grasp the WHOLE point!
The Potter reuses the same lump of clay when the first pot was not turning out as He intended because of a flaw, a lump, a stone, something in the clay. As I am the clay, God created me in His original form. As life welled up from His hands, I grew into the beautiful life that He created. As’choice’ began to be a reality in my life, some of the choices I made were His choices for me, but so many were not. Over the course of these seventy-four years now, God has thrown this lump of clay back onto the wheel to see about changing my course. He drew me back to Himself. He loves me so that He desires that I become more and more as the image of His Son, Jesus the Christ.
“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter‘s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:6
I want to say that God does not need to take this clay to remake me again and again each time I take the wrong pathway from the one He has planned for me. But He does, I think! In a way! He created me perfectly, yet I need remolding from time to time as I am not perfect while I walk on this earth. The Holy Spirit draws me near and teaches me more and more through the Word, the life of Jesus, by prayer. He kneads my life through Himself to look more like the original way He created.
I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. Hosea 12:10
God creates us perfectly no matter what we look like, what paths we, ourselves, choose over our lifetime, or just what happens to us in our bodies, our minds, our lives. We have been created perfectly. As we grow in Christ, we are to walk in the Lord as unto perfection, one step at a time. We should depend upon God to guide us and protect us as we become more and more like Christ. This is not an easy walk and it certainly is not a straight shot from the creation God made to the one we are to become. The road to Christ is a powerful walk but filled with storms, hills and dales, temperature extremes, roadblocks, plus our own weariness.
But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8
…from George Whitefield’s ((1714-1770), sermon “The Potter and the Clay:”
“Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ‘O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?’ Saith the Lord. ‘Behold, as the clay is in the hands of the potter,’” (marred, and unfit for the first designed purpose) “‘so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.’” At length, then, Jeremiah hath his sermon given to him: short, but popular. It was to be delivered to the whole house of Israel, princes, priests, and people: short, but pungent, even sharper than a two-edged sword. What! says the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, must I be denied the privilege of a common potter? May I not do what I will with my own? “Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hands, so are ye in mine hands, O house of Israel. I made and formed you into a people, and blessed you above any other nation under heaven: but, O Israel, thou by thy backslidings hast destroyed thyself. As the potter therefore might justly have thrown aside his marred clay, so may I justly unchurch and unpeople you. But what if I should come over the mountains of your guilt, heal your backslidings, revive my work in the midst of the years, and cause your latter end greatly to increase? Behold, as the clay is in the hands of the potter, lying at his disposal, either to be destroyed or formed into another vessel, so are ye in my hands, O house of Israel: I may either reject, and thereby ruin you, or I may revisit and revive you according to my own sovereign good will and pleasure, and who shall say unto me, what dost thou?”
.… “I shall now proceed to show, that what the glorious Jehovah here says of the house of Israel in general, is applicable to every individual of mankind in particular.” ….
“First, I shall undertake to prove, that every man naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam, is in the sight of the all-seeing, heart-searching God, only as a “piece of marred clay.” ….
.… “But this is not all, we have yet more evidence to call; for do the blindness of our understandings, the perverseness of our will, the rebellion of our affections, the corruption our consciences, the depravity of our reason prove this charge; and does not present disordered frame and constitution of our bodies confirm the same also? Doubtless in this respect, man, in the most literal sense of the word, is a piece of marred clay.“
….
“Secondly, That being thus marred, he must necessarily be renewed: and under this head, we shall likewise point out by whose agency this mighty change is to be brought about.”
…. “This is what John the Baptist calls “being baptized with the Holy Ghost,” without which, his and all other baptisms, whether infant or adult, avail nothing. This is that fire, which our Lord came to send into our earthly hearts, and which I pray the Lord of all lords to kindle in every unrenewed one this day.”
“As for the extraordinary operations of the Holy Ghost, such as working of miracles, or speaking with divers kinds of tongues, they are long since ceased. But as for this miracle of miracles, turning the soul to God by the more ordinary operations of the Holy Ghost, this abides yet, and will abide till time itself shall be nor more. For it is he that sanctifieth us, and all the elect people of God. On this account, true believers are said to be “born from above, to be born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Their second, as well as their first creation, is truly and purely divine. It is, therefore, called “a creation;” “but put ye on,” (says the apostle) “the new man which is created” — And how? Even as the first man was after God in righteousness and true holiness.”
As I readied myself to pray as I usually do at the ends of my posts, the prayer of Mr. Whitefield, at the end of his sermon, says so much that I will have him prayer for us this day:
You, that have in some degree experienced the quickening influence (for I must not conclude without dropping a word or two to God’s children) you know how to pity, and therefore, I beseech you also to pray for those, to whose circumstances this discourse is peculiarly adapted. But will you be content in praying for them? Will you not see reason to pray for yourselves also? Yes, doubtless, for yourselves also. For you, and you only know, how much there is yet lacking in your faith, and how far you are from being partakers in that degree, which you desire to be, of the whole mind that was in Christ Jesus. You know what a body of sin and death you carry about with you, and that you must necessarily expect many turns of God’s providence and grace, before you will be wholly delivered from it. But thanks be to God, we are in safe hands. He that has been the author, will also be the finisher of our faith. Yet a little while, and we like him shall say “It is finished;” we shall bow down our heads and give up the ghost. `Till then, (for to thee, O Lord, will we now direct our prayer) help us, O Almighty Father, in patience to possess our souls. Behold, we are the clay, and thou art the Potter. Let not the thing formed say to him that formed it, whatever the dispensations of thy future Will concerning us may be, Why dost thou deal with us thus? Behold, we put ourselves as blanks in thine hands, deal with us as seemeth good in thy sight, only let every cross, ever affliction, every temptation, be overruled to the stamping thy blessed image in more lively characters on our hearts; that so passing from glory to glory, by the powerful operations of they blessed Spirit, we may be made thereby more and more meet for, and at last be translated to a full, perfect, endless, and uninterrupted enjoyment of glory hereafter, with thee O Father, thee O Son, and thee O blessed Spirit; to whom, three persons but one God, be ascribed, as is most due, all honor, power, might, majesty and dominion, now and to all eternity. Amen and Amen.
For some time, a focal point for me has been to ‘convince’ others to see the world through God’s Word plus I have desired to ‘renew relationships’ that seem to have gone deeply awry. Convincing and renewing were, at least, my hope to change hearts and minds by what I deemed as the wisdom and the Truth of God’s Word, common sense, and love towards others with open arms. All of my efforts have led to nothing but frustration, discouragement, and sorrow on my part.
And in this place of quiet, deep inside of me, God has given me His beautiful peace to know that He is God and that He is in control. I am not! I cannot ‘convince’ nor ‘restore’ in my own strength, even if I had some. When will I ever learn?
from Matthew Henry’s “Commentary on Isaiah (28):” “They courted and persuaded them to learn. God, by his prophets, said to them, “This way that we are directing you to, and directing you in, is the rest, the only rest, wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this will be the refreshing of your own souls, and will bring rest to your country from the wars and other calamities with which it has been long harassed.” Note, God by his word calls us to nothing but what is really for our advantage; for the service of God is the only true rest for those that are weary of the service of sin and there is no refreshing but under the easy yoke of the Lord Jesus.“
I can see that I am up against a hard place, a stinging nettle, a prick. I must trust in the Lord, the Lord alone. He has not left me stranded in such a dark place as this world looks to be. He is near and reminds me of His infinite grace and mercy.
I have felt so off-course, so disengaged with people I once loved and cared about, yet I could not open my mouth without getting myself into more hot water. There was just no seeing eye-to-eye on just about anything and everything. So I remained quiet on the outside while my insides were boiling and exhausted from NOT trying to make peace, for NOT letting people know how I really felt or what I really believed. Both are a huge part of who I think I am…a peacemaker and an honest, open person.
I chose to use ‘Being Woven’ as my platform to share a few, just a few, of my thoughts and beliefs. Those same people whom I still love (yet no longer am able to like their behavior or lack of behavior) have gone completely silent.
In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people, and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. Isaiah 28:5-6
I have sought Him in my dark places. He is with me. I feel as though I am beginning once again. Beginning a new phase of the rest of my life, a reset button has recently been pushed. I am starting fresh without my dear husband, Kenneth, of 25 years. Yes, it has been four years since he died, but the reset button is just now being hit! A reset with possible new friends with whom I will be open and honest, I pray. A reset to trust in the Lord anew, responding to the life I am called to live.
My anger, my hopelessness, my fear, my disillusionment have all been based on worldly ways, on watching those around me use the beautiful Name of Christ in negative ways which I could never have imagined they would or could. I need to pull back and know that God is God and He is my God. Jesus is my Lord of this life.
The Lord will give me strength for turning my battle back at the gate. I am a follower of Jesus.
“I entreat you, give no place to despondency. This is a dangerous temptation–a refined, not a gross temptation of the adversary. Melancholy contracts and withers the heart, and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace. It magnifies and gives a false colouring to objects, and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear. God’s designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs, are infinitely wise.” Madame Jeanne-Marie Guyon
This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. Isaiah 28:29
Father, as I walk this earth from day-to-day, please guide my steps that they would be steadily in sync with You. Guide my steps as You draw me into a fresh set of friends whose lives You have ordained for me. As You give me freedom to wander a bit and make choices, remind me of Whose I am and just where You desire I walk. Forgive me when I stray, especially when I stray far off the path. I may be just thinking that I am going over there to smell the fragrance of a flower, yet I sometimes forget that I need to return to the path. Lord, give me Your strength to keep the battles back at the gates so they do not come into my yard, into my life. May Your peace, Your love, Your holiness, Your grace, and Your mercy all, YES…ALL! rain down upon me and reign in my heart and my soul, Father God. I love You so and, with peace, I walk out into this world with assurance of You over me. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.John 8:44-45
My joy is so missing-in-action as I live in this world today. The bombardments of harshness and strife are continually creating rough edges all over me: re: mass murders, hatred, an assassination of a fine retired world leader, vitriol spewing everywhere, a constant barrage of lies by many who seem to know only that; there is so much more. I have been having such a difficult time getting up from down, rejoicing with others and even just with myself, and even filtering peace and joy through the beauty of God’s creations is so difficult for me now. I pray this will pass and I can see beyond those hedges. God is faithful and merciful. He rains down His peace and joy upon me so that I may hold it in, yes, inside my very being.
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22
I am writing about conspiracy and hypocrisy this week for the Bible speaks of both quite clearly. Both have been on my mind for too long of a time. I have remained still and quiet, all of which has been snarled up inside of me. I want to write with God’s guidance, I pray.
For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Isaiah 8:11-15
con·spir·a·cy ~ [kənˈspirəsē] ~ NOUN
a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful
the action of plotting or conspiring
קֶשֶׁר
qešer
an (unlawful) alliance:—confederacy, conspiracy, treason
Absalom’s Conspiracy:
After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”
Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.’” The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.
But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing. 2 Samuel 15:1-12
from the Book of Acts:
When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made thisconspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.” Acts 23:12-15
These sound so much like today…conspiratorial thinking and actions. “Hang Mike Pence” rings in my ears. They were very ready to do just that upon the gallows which they brought with them to the nation’s Capitol.
I have become someone I am not very familiar with these days. I have always been an encourager and a peacekeeper. But I am barely either one of those and have not been for a few years now. Yes, I still encourage a few people in my world, in my life, but I can no longer keep peace as so many in my world have blown my mind and heart to pieces. I do not know what to say to them any longer. I have been extremely quiet for years now just so I could keep the peace. BUT…a rather large piece of me has been changing. I cannot keep silent at every turn. I cannot keep peace should I encounter any of those I struggle with. So many have believed in conspiracies whether it be about the 2020 election being “stolen” or “rigged,” or COVID-19 as a hoax, about vaccines being evil or government-forced upon the citizens, while believing that untested COVID-19 cures are perfectly fine, one friend ‘telling’ me that, should I get COVID, to surely contact a certain doctor, or take a certain treatment (all of which were perpetrating lies and quackery). And many have believed that January 6th was a ‘legitimate political discourse.” And there are so many other conspiracies flying around these days.
ὑπόκρισις
hypokrisis
acting under a feigned part, i.e. (figuratively) deceit (“hypocrisy”):—condemnation, dissimulation, hypocrisy.
In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. Luke 12:1-3
from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Luke:
“He began with a caution against hypocrisy. This he said to his disciples first of all; either to the twelve, or to the seventy. These were his more peculiar charge, his family, his school, and therefore he particularly warned them as his beloved sons; they made more profession of religion than others and hypocrisy in that was the sin they were most in danger of. They were to preach to others; and, if they should prevaricate, corrupt the word, and deal deceitfully, hypocrisy would be worse in them than in others. Besides, there was a Judas among them, who was a hypocrite, and Christ knew it, and would hereby startle him, or leave him inexcusable. Christ’s disciples were, for aught we know, the best men then in the world, yet they needed to be cautioned against hypocrisy. Christ said this to the disciples, in the hearing of this great multitude, rather than privately when he had them by themselves, to add the greater weight to the caution, and to let the world know that he would not countenance hypocrisy, no, not in his own disciples. Now observe,
(1.) The description of that sin which he warns them against: It is the leaven of the Pharisees.
[1.] It is leaven; it is spreading as leaven, insinuates itself into the whole man, and all that he does; it is swelling and souring as leaven, for it puffs men up with pride, embitters them with malice, and makes their service unacceptable to God.
[2.] It is the leaven of the Pharisees: “It is the sin they are most of them found in. Take heed of imitating them; be not you of their spirit; do not dissemble in Christianity as they do in Judaism; make not your religion a cloak of maliciousness, as they do theirs.”
“Do you not know this of old, Since man was placed on earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? Job 20:4-5
If you are one of those whom I have loved and cared about, yet have bought into the misbeliefs, the lies, the conspiracies that have ensnared so many millions, please read God’s Word regarding these subjects. This is God’s Truth. Conspiracies and lies have been around forever. They are not God’s Truth. Think about the serpent in the Garden. Satan lied and caught Eve and Adam in his lies about the Tree and an apple. Absalom wanted to be king. He would do anything to be king and he had many followers. The side-by-side comparison of the forty-fifth President of the United States, his followers, Absalom and his followers seems far too familiar to me.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,…. 1 Timothy 4:1-2
The Term ‘Christian’ Has taken on a Very Dark Color for Me:
I am baffled as to why people continue to follow a man who would taunt elderly ‘Lady Ruby’ and her daughter Shaye, two Georgia election workers who have been found absolutely innocent of doing anything illegal or wrong. Plus, the crowds taunted ‘Lady Ruby’s’ even-more-elderly mother who was at her home, not even a part of the election? I cannot grasp how anyone can continue to support the former President who LIED, who continues to LIE. He was willing to have his Vice President, our former Vice President, killed, hung? HOW? Other liars are believed regularly as well: T. Carlson, L. Ingraham, R. Guilliani, T. Cruz, to name just a few. I just cannot, do not, understand. And a large group of those followers call themselves Christians, evangelical Christians. This fact boggles my mind more than ANYTHING!
I, myself, am a follower of Christ. I love the Lord. I am a Jesus-follower, but find that using the term ‘Christian’ is no longer comfortable for me. I do not deny Christ at all. I am totally His, but many have ruined the name ‘Christian’ for me (and I am not alone). I have so many people who were/are a part of my life whom I have loved, but I no longer like many of their ways.
What these last years have done for and to me is make me doubt my own faith, make me question who I am. I pray that my walk does not and will not portray an image of hypocrisy as so many Christians have shown me by their walks. I know I fail too and ask God over and over for His gracious forgiveness. I have been living in Colorado for ten months now and am so discouraged as I look for a church to call ‘home.’ Hypocrisy shows up far more than when it does not. I try not to walk in hypocrisy or surround myself with lies and conspiracies. I hope and pray I won’t! This is not about politics although many would argue with me that it is. NO, IT IS NOT! It is about our faith, my faith, your faith.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:9-10
My beautiful America is falling apart at the seams right now. We have a devil in our midst pulling us down by his lies to a level I have never known in my 74 years. Yes, the United States of America has had hard moments in its history but what I see today seems to be the worst in my lifetime. We must wake up before we have been taken into the arms of the devil. There are some who want to hold ALL OF THE POWER with NO democracy holding us together as it has been for 246 years. Democracy (with a small ‘d’) is a beautiful thing. We have free speech, free choice, freedom of religion, right to have a fair trial, right to bear arms (although I wish we could rid our country of weapons of war/AR-style rifles!), freedom to vote, and so much more. Autocracy, dictatorship, oligarchy, totalitarian, and many other types of governments are run by one or a few. Let us not lose our democracy, please. “Government ofthepeople, bythepeople, for thepeople, shall not perish from the Earth.” Abraham Lincoln…I wish!
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:1-18
Father God, this has been so very difficult for me to write. I pray that these words are true to my calling in Your Name. I pray, in some small way, I have glorified You in who I am and what I say. Hold us near and teach us to be true to You, Lord. I know this country I call ‘home’ has gone so far astray over our two and a half centuries, and, one day, we will come before You. I pray we will answer honestly and forthrightly to You, with humble and repentant hearts. I pray for healing between people whose relationships have cracked or stand wide open. Lord, for I have a number of those broken relationships. Please heal each one or cause a change in me that I may set aside those which are irreparable. Yet, no matter, I am strong in You and know that You are my God. Hold me close as I walk these hard roads, reminding me that the faith I hold dear is, indeed, that which You gave me. Redirect me from standing with ‘doubting Thomas,’ as a ‘doubting Linda,’ and place me firmly into Your arms where: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1). Father, I pray all in the Name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Deliver me, O LORD,from lying lips,from a deceitful tongue. Psalm 120:2
“Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10b
From the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Father, I am as torn as this pitiful American flag. I so love the United States of America. I was born and raised here, having lived all across this land, from California to Washington, D.C., from Virginia to Oregon, from Texas to Colorado. I am reminded of the tattered nation I seem to be living in. My country feels like it is being ripped apart by the strife, division, hatred across such a wide spectrum of issues and concerns…guns, abortion, politics, religion, hypocrisy, the color of one’s skin, environmental un-protection, immigration, so much more. I wish certain people with power would STOP lying to us (supposedly, role models, caring for the people they serve or once served). We are a nation of all colors, many religions, various cultures. We need to be able to trust one another, trust in our government at all three levels, yet that trust is waning right now. I pray for some unity, cohesion, communication, togetherness, so that this nation may begin to heal. The United States of America has been the land of freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL. It has also been the land of hope for a future for so many over these two centuries plus forty-six years of its existence. Please hold us fast, Father. I pray I draw near to You continually in these times. I love you, Lord. In the strong Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. Psalm 6:2
I am PRO-LIFE for ages 0 until death, whether that be at 1 month…2 months…6 months…9 months in utero, or 2 years old, 6 years old, 10 years old, 46 years old, 100 years, 115, 122 or beyond as long as one is alive and with breath.
I am PRO-CHOICE too.
YES…it is possible to be BOTH.
Life for every and all ages.
I want all of God’s life to thrive and live a life honoring to Him.
“You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13
God commanded us, me, not to murder. I understand that. I am against abortions. I am also for an individual’s, a woman’s right to choose. God gave us free will although we were/are not so good about following His every command.
Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! Ezekiel 18:30-32
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” Genesis 6:5-7
I am not one to weigh in on controversial issues usually. If the Lord wills, I may be more vocal in this space. Not only is the country that I was born and raised in on the verge of…in the midst of…tremendous change in ways I could not have fathomed only months ago, but hatred and fear are running wild everywhere including through the very population I once called ‘community.’ I feel led to stand to say things that are truly difficult for me to say out loud. I may lose followers; I may lose more friends and community than have already departed. I have been writing this particular post for weeks. It was near edit-completion when June 24, 2022/Supreme Court ruling hit the news cycle!
I pray that I will say and write words that are glorifying to my Lord, my God.
LIFE may start at conception…at fertilization…at six weeks…at 15 weeks…at 20 weeks of a pregnancy…at birth.
LIFE is not only about birth. It does not end once a child is born.
LIFE on this planet is at first breath of earthly air. LIFE is being breathed in and out from just outside the womb, at one year old, at two, at ten, at seventeen, at twenty-three, at thirty-eight, at fifty-one, at seventy-six, at ninety-seven, at one hundred, at one hundred four and beyond if God so wills. No matter the stage of LIFE we are in, God provides breath until He does not. That is LIFE.
God is LIFE and we are living as long as He has planned for us.
So…YES…I am PRO-LIFE.
I am PRO-LIFE for ALL of LIFE!
I am PRO-CHOICE, too, for we each are given choices throughout life…to choose our way or God’s way. God gave humans a will. I am against murder but I am NOT against choice. It is up to each person to follow the will of God. Sometimes we do not. We, more often than not, reap what we sow. We are allowed to make choices.
I recall when ‘abortion’ was a heavy topic of thought and conversation, or argument and agreement, in the 1960s and 1970s, before Roe versus Wade was yet in the courts. Back than, one was able to be both Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. It was perfectly okay to not be on one side or the other. I was both then and continue to be to this very day.
No, I have never had an abortion nor even been pregnant. I had choices along the way for decisions I needed and chose to make. There were also decisions made for me by others where my choice was not an option. Some I am okay with today and some I was not okay with at the time of their making by another or by the natural way of things. I can see that I have been in God’s hands, no matter.
Let me ask you:
Where were you when I, a somewhat immune-compromised senior citizen, needed you to wear a mask during the early days as well as at the heights of COVID-19 outbreaks?
Where were you when a vaccine, a set of vaccines, booster vaccines were made available and were free? Did you get them? I hope so.
My life, the lives of the many immune-compromised with cancer, with diseases that cannot fight off other diseases, those awaiting an organ transplant, the lives of senior adults, all deserve(d) a chance to live. Don’t they?
I can hear you are saying to me: “Linda, if you believe in choices, then I, too, have a choice to wear a mask for COVID or a choice to get or not get a vaccine.” Yes, you do.
If you are pro-life, then why is that decision about masks or vaccines a problem for you? Whose life are you for or against? I understand that there may be health reasons why you did not wear a mask or take the vaccine. I know. But for many, that choice was a blatant choice against the United States government more than it was about caring for and about those living.
Most of you reading this blog are professing Christians who abide by the Word of God. Why, then, has it been so hard for so many to have ignored the second commandment that Jesus gave each and all of us?
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31
“…NO OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE.”
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 1 John 5:2
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25
Father God, I pray for your wisdom as I walk the steps which feel so hard…difficult for me. I believe they are steps You have given me. Protect the women who are in danger today…who are facing trauma today. I curl into Your strong arms and weep my tears into Your bottle. I hesitate to even publish this post for I have spent most of my 74 years on this earth trying to please others, to keep the peace, yet, I am so filled with words, thoughts, and emotion which I pray You have given me permission to write here. May I be pleasing unto You, Abba Father, and only You. I pray in the beautiful and powerful Name of Your Son. Amen.
Being Woven 
